National Symbols
National Flag
- It is a horizontal tricolour of deep Saffron at the top, White at middle and dark Green at the bottom.
Saffron – (stands for courage, sacrifice, and renunciation)
White – (shows truth and purity in thoughts)
- A wheel (Chakra) in the centre of the white strip is the symbol of progress and movement. It has 24 spokes.
- The Flag was designed by Pingali Venkayya and the first time, the flag was hoisted by Sacchindra Prasad Bose in 1906 in Calcutta.
- It was adopted by Constituent Assembly of India on July 22, 1947.
National Emblem
- It is adopted from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Asoka on January 26, 1950.
- The words Satyameva Jayate are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagri script.
- These words are taken from Mundaka Upanishad.
National Anthem
- The song Jana Gana Mana is the National Anthem of India which, was composed by Rabindra Nath Tagore in 1911, originally in Bengali.
- It was adopted by Constituent Assembly on January 24, 1950, in its Hindi version.
- The song Jana Gana Mana was first published in January 1912 under the title ‘Bharat Vidhata’ in Tattva Bodhini Patrika.
- It was first sung at the Calcutta Session of Congress on December 27, 1911.
- Playing time of full version of National Anthem is 52 seconds.
National Song
- “Vande Mataram” is the National Song of India, which was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, originally in Sanskrit.
- It is taken from his novel Anand Math published in 1882. Its English translation was done by Sri Aurobindo.
- It was sung for the first time at the Congress Session of 1896.
National Animal
The Tiger (Panthera Tigris) is the National Animal of India.
National Calendar
National Calendar is based on Saka Era (78 A.D.) with Chaitra as its first month and Phalguna as its last month with a normal year of 365 days adopted from March 22, 1957, along with the Gregorian Calendar.
